CUP: B.J. McLeod the first Cup driver to finish last due to “mechanical” issues since 1951
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
McLeod’s car hurriedly pushed behind the wall before the restart following the rain and lightning delay late Sunday night. (PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92)
B.J. McLeod picked up the 17th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at Echo Park Speedway (Atlanta) when his #78 Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster Chevrolet fell out with mechanical issues after he completed 105 of 263 laps.
The finish, which came in McLeod’s 152nd series start, was his second of the season and first since the Daytona 500, 19 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 2nd from mechanical issues, the 38th for the #78, and the 891st for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 14th from mechanical woes, the 53rd for the #78, and the 2,054th for Chevrolet.
Sunday marked McLeod’s first start as a driver since the series’ most recent race in Atlanta, where after a disappointing last-place finish from an early mechanical failure at Daytona, he ran 111 laps before crash damage ended his run. Through the summer, we’ve seen his Live Fast Motorsports team make another four races – two each with a returning Katherine Legge and new hire Daniel Dye, each bringing much-needed sponsorship from e.l.f. Cosmetics and Champion Container Corporation. Legge’s most recent start in the Coca-Cola 600 was part of an unexpected bid at “The Double.” Unfortunately, she finished last in the Indianapolis 500 while avoiding a crash, then ended up laps down in 31st in Charlotte.
For the series return to Atlanta, McLeod would again carry the colors of Tennessee’s Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster, part of a contest giveaway including amusement park tickets and team merchandise. The team selected a winner on Friday and also awarded merch to five other entrants. As one of 38 entrants for 40 spots, McLeod was slated first out to qualify, where he put up the slowest completed lap of 31.743 seconds (174.653mph), about three-tenths of a second off the next-slowest car of Noah Gragson in the #4 Long John Silver’s Ford.
McLeod still lined up 37th as the 38th spot went to Chad Finchum, who spun his #66 Carter’s Royal Dispos-all Ford in Turn 3, leaving him the only driver without a timed lap. This incurred Finchum a redundant tail-end penalty for unapproved adjustments. As the only penalized driver, Finchum remained to the outside of McLeod when the green flag dropped. This allowed McLeod to inch ahead at the stripe, 2.971 seconds back of the lead to Finchum’s 2.989. By the end of Lap 1, Finchum dropped McLeod back to last, 2.505 seconds back, and McLeod dropped Finchum back to last on Lap 3, 3.960 seconds behind. Finchum reported his car was free, then was warned by his spotter to watch for a plummeting Brad Keselowski, whose #6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford dropped to 37th after he hit the wall in Turn 4.
By Lap 7, Finchum lost touch with the draft, and was now nearly two seconds behind new 37th-place runner Cody Ware in the #51 Rocket Doctor Chevrolet. Still under green, team owner Carl Long called for Finchum to get a sway bar packer and two pounds of air pressure into the left-rear. By Lap 9, Finchum was running completely by himself while Keselowski climbed up to 34th. Meanwhile, Long continued to prepare for their first stop of the night. He planned to go three rounds down on the wedge bolt. He also warned the crew the clutch on the #66 wasn’t working properly, so they’d have to give him a push after their stop.
During this run, a three-car draft formed up behind 34th-place Keselowski. Gragson led the group in 35th, followed by McLeod in 36th, and Ware in 37th. This group started to lose touch with Keselowski around Lap 14, and Gragson dropped to the tail end in 37th on Lap 17. The next time by, Finchum reported he was “bad loose,” but was told by his crew he was reeling in the three cars ahead, running the same or better lap times. By Lap 25, Finchum was running a half-second faster than that group, still 24.971 seconds back of the lead, but visibly catching those three cars. On Lap 26, Finchum got a run on the group off Turn 4, then passed Gragson off Turn 2, dropping the #4 to last place. As Finchum worked his way past both Ware and McLeod, Gragson was the first to be lapped on Lap 30, followed by Ware, McLeod, and Finchum.
By Lap 37, Ware climbed to 36th, dropping McLeod to 37th with Gragson still in last. Most of the field had lapped Gragson by Lap 41, when Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and A.J. Allmendinger made it past in 29th and 30th. With just 20 laps until the end of Stage 1, Gragson’s team wanted to avoid losing a second lap, but weren’t sure how best to tell their frustrated driver. When they did, Gragson answered, “I’m trying. I’m trying to go as fast as I can. Do you think I like this shit?” Gragson also clarified the issue with his car, saying it felt like it was driving with a flat right-rear tire due to an issue in the back of the car. The team apologized, saying it was “unacceptable” to unload the car with such a problem.
On Lap 50, Gragson held the low lane off Turns 3 and 4 as he lost a second lap to the leaders, and by Lap 52, McLeod had fallen to 37th. “I know it sucks, man, just do what you can,” said Gragson’s team to their driver on Lap 58. When the caution finally fell on Lap 61 to end Stage 1, Gragson told his team, “It’s really, really loose,” adding that it was “wrecking loose” and “undriveable” since it was yawed out too much in the rear. To make matters worse, Gragson’s rear view camera hadn’t been working since the start, meaning he’d have to make at least two stops under caution to get it fixed. These stops were made on Laps 66 and 67.
On the Lap 68 restart, Gragson pulled ahead of McLeod into 37th place, and by Lap 71, McLeod was now a half-second back of the field in last place, trying to follow Gragson in the low lane as he worked on 36th-place Ware to his outside. Gragson cleared Ware on Lap 73, allowing McLeod to try and reel in Ware, but on Lap 75, Ware got past Finchum, who took over the 37th spot. Soon after, both Finchum and McLeod lost touch with the tail end of the field, each separated by open track. On Lap 82, McLeod radioed, “I can’t do shit,” and the crew noted his car looked like it wasn’t “into” the racetrack. His crew discussed raising the nose on their next stop, then examined their data. On Lap 92, they reported McLeod was driving two-to-three car lengths deeper into the corner than the next few cars ahead of him, but was still losing ground. By Lap 101, he was checking the engine diagnostic page on his dashboard. And on Lap 103, he lost a third lap to the leaders coming off Turn 4.
Then on Lap 108, a spectacular lightning strike off the backstretch drew the caution, forcing everyone to pit road to seek shelter. The teams covered up their cars, McLeod’s lined up in the second row of cars, and his camera was shut off. By the time the three-hour red flag had ended, the car covers removed, McLeod’s car was pushed hurriedly to the garage area. His on-board camera turned back on with the car already in the garage, its hood raised with NASCAR officials watching intently. The caution came out, and the field continued to put McLeod more laps down, now seven down on Lap 113. Finally, on Lap 125, moments after the race restarted, NASCAR declared McLeod out of the race, citing “mechanical” issues as the reason.
Taking 37th was A.J. Allmendinger, who was involved in two separate cautions, the second a blown right-front tire that sent his #16 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet hard into the outside wall while he was running in the low lane. The rest of the Bottom Five was filled after Kyle Larson’s fast #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet was turned into the inside wall heading into Turn 3, triggering a multi-car accident. Larson managed to finish the race under power, completing just enough laps to pass both 37th-place Chase Briscoe in the #19 Freebird Spring Water Toyota and 36th-place Riley Herbst in the #35 Monster Energy Toyota, who were the most seriously damaged of those collected.
Cody Ware, who finished 32nd, ended up earning a bonus point for the XFINITY Fastest Lap, which he earned on Lap 236 with a time of 29.905 seconds.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was only the second time in Cup Series history that a driver was classified last due to “mechanical” issues. The only other occasion was on October 14, 1951, when Bill Stickler’s #72 J & M Garage car, a 1948 Hudson, fell out after an unspecified number of laps at Oakland Stadium in California, a 0.625-mile dirt track. This west coast race was run the same day as a 200-lap race in Martinsville, where more familiar names in NASCAR like Lee Petty, Herb Thomas, and Curtis Turner competed.
*This marked McLeod’s fourth last-place finish in a Cup race at Atlanta, and first since March 19, 2023, when his #78 B’laster Chevrolet crashed after 189 laps.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #78-B.J. McLeod / 105 laps / mechanical
37) #16-A.J. Allmendinger / 230 laps / crash
36) #19-Chase Briscoe / 254 laps / crash
35) #35-Riley Herbst / 255 laps / crash
34) #5-Kyle Larson / 258 laps / running / led 4 laps
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Trackhouse Racing (5)
2nd) Joe Gibbs Racing (4)
3rd) Hendrick Motorsports, Live Fast Motorsports (2)
4th) 23XI Racing, Garage 66, Kaulig Racing, RFK Racing, Rick Ware Racing, Wood Brothers Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (11)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (4)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
